Devotional Thought of the Day….

 ³²  And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”  John 12:32 (NLT)

As I walk between the extremes of Christianity, and my own branch of the church, I hear a lot of advice about the church.  Some suggest that God will bless the church, if we are faithful to this model.  Wait, most of them say that – their models just appear – whether traditional or contemporary, whether doctrinal or social – fundamental or liberal to be at odds with the other models.  I would content they might not be as much as they think, they are often making observations about the same thing from different perspectives.

But that isn’t the point.

I would contend that it isn’t how liturgical you are, or whether you church is Lutheran or Catholic or Methodist, or whether you are involved in social ministry, or training the next generation of leaders, or whatever it is.  What matters is, is Christ lifted up.   For Jesus is where we find hope, it is His love, His desire to reconcile us to the Father, that is seen when He is lifted up on the cross.   I will contend that this is the unseen core of the what drives both the church growth crown and the we have to be faithful to our past crowd.

They both love, even if they don’t realize it, how Christ is revealed to them.

The grace and mercy of Christ is like gravity – it is so needed, and the more people need it, the more they get caught in its pull.  The more aware they are of being broken, the more they are pulled to the one who is lifted up, just so their souls can find healing.  Such was the story of the serpent on the pole – look there – find healing.  It was the nature of Solomon’s temple – for believers – look there – find forgiveness/healing, for non-believers, God will hear them – and bring them what they need.

It is, always and forever, about our relationship with Christ, for nothing else provides us with what we need, nothing is like the one crucified to show us His love, His mercy, His desire for us to be His people.

May the Holy Spirit remove from us everything else that catches our eyes,,,, leaving only Christ visible…and then, as the Spirit transforms us into His image – may we see that around us with His eyes.

English: Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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